August 3 2020 XY Sense raises $5m to help workplaces tackle the challenges of COVID-19

XY Sense closes $AUD5m seed investment round to change the way businesses access and act on workplace data.  Investment comes from leading Australian venture fund, Blackbird Ventures, staff and angel investors including; Danny Gorog (Former CEO of Outware), Sandy Kory (Angel investor in Canva, Palantir) and, Marc Alexander (CEO LIFX) among others, to support the Read More…

July 30 2020 JobKeeper 2.0: The winners and losers

With the news that JobKeeper will be extended for another six months until March 2021, many business owners and employees are relieved. However, with the latest tweaks to the wage subsidy, not everyone will benefit. So, who will win and who will lose out? The winners To be eligible for JobKeeper, a business must be Read More…

July 23 2020 Collaboration marketing: A great option for covid-affected budgets?

Perhaps collaboration marketing is the way forward for marketers this year, with budgets affected by covid-19. Marketing and PR expert, Jess Ruhfus, took brand partnerships to another level when she created a business marketing version of Tinder, Collabosaurus. We spoke to her about partnerships and the great opportunities that collaboration marketing can really give to companies.  Read More…

July 21 2020 Businesses should already be planning Christmas campaigns: Pinterest data

Christmas is months away and probably not at the top of many business owners’ lists at the moment, however Carin Lee-Skelton, ANZ Country Manager for Pinterest, says that brands who are not already thinking about Christmas will fall behind.  Searches for Christmas related topics have hugely increased and people seem to be more impatient than ever Read More…

July 17 2020 Self-funded startup to global market entry, Hubbed’s growth story

From a self-funded startup to a booming pick-up and drop-off (PUDO) parcel network that is capturing local market share, Hubbed is launching in nine overseas markets and has created a challenge for global entrants.  Since Hubbed launched in 2014, the network has grown to more than 2000 locations, has captured significant market share, has launched Read More…

July 14 2020 “This could force parents out of their jobs”

With ‘free childcare’ ending yesterday, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell says many parents – especially women – in small businesses will be faced with difficult decisions. “For small business owners – many of which are mothers – who have been working tirelessly to get back on their feet, childcare has Read More…

July 13 2020 75% of SMEs want current stimulus measures extended until 2021

The vast majority of SMEs want stimulus measures to be extended further to help them recover from the impacts of the pandemic. This is according to Wave 11 of ACA Research and TEG’s COVID-19 Tracker (published 2 July) which shows that 75% of SMEs want current stimulus measures extended until 2021. The results are part of Read More…

July 6 2020 National financial adviser group: “Retail has chance to re-focus on what matters”

With Australia in a recession, most businesses are dealing with a range of unexpected challenges, but founder of the national Certainty Advice Group says that the retail industry has a chance to re-focus on what matters at this time.  The national Certainty Advice Group advisers say there are a number of basic steps retailers are Read More…

June 25 2020 ‘Zombie businesses’ big future problem

With speculation that hundreds of businesses – dubbed ‘zombie businesses’ – are being propped up by Government stimulus and will potentially fold in September, new figures suggest that the problem could we bigger than we anticipate. New research reveals: 62 per cent of SME business owners have been on the brink of folding their businesses Read More…

June 25 2020 “We’ve realised that our growth potential isn’t related to market situation”

COVID-19 has taught businesses many lessons, and it’s no different for the Chamberlain Group, who in this time have realised their business growth is not so much linked to the state of the economy and market situation – it’s more about customer and employee connection.  The Chamberlain Group, Australia’s leading manufacturer in garage door openers and Read More…

June 24 2020 More Merger and Acquisition activity after Covid-19 hit

Dennis Tomaras, a partner in law firm Cornwalls, believes that Covid-19 is inspiring a wave of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in Australia. He believes that current M&A activity is most common with privately owned SME’s – across all sectors – and especially in technology, agricultural, services and manufacturing. “It’s probably 50 / 50 between Read More…

June 24 2020 Redundancies looming post-JobKeeper

The JobKeeper scheme has done incredibly well in terms of protecting many jobs and livelihoods, but it fails to address the looming problem of incoming redundancies and folding businesses.  COVID-19 has significantly changed the business landscape. September (when the scheme ends) will look extremely different to this year’s February, which now seems to be in Read More…

June 23 2020 Global marketing company to PPE supplier: Zinc’s huge COVID-19 pivot

Zinc is usually – pre-COVID – a global marketing company that caters for clients such as Disney, ANZ and JetStar. In the COVID-19 disruption, with marketing spend halted for many businesses and sectors, Zinc pivoted to become a global PPE supplier instead. The team created ZincProtect in order to meet the global demand for PPE in Read More…

June 15 2020 Where the SME sector is headed in a post-COVID world

Since the launch of the government’s SME guarantee scheme for small businesses suffering from the knock-on effects of COVID, we’ve seen how important it is to provide a financial lifeline to Australia’s SMEs in the wake of the pandemic. It’s not just in the interest of business owners and their employees; now more than ever Read More…

June 11 2020 Australian SMEs concerned about impending recession

Australian SMEs are concerned about the impending recession, with business confidence plummeting to new lows, according to the ‘Canary in the Coal Mine’ report released today by Prushka Fast Debt Recovery. The bi-annual survey of nearly 500 Australian small business operators revealed only 22 per cent of SMEs are confident in the state of their Read More…